This morning setup the table to shoot sevai and sheer korma. Used mum's choice of table cloth and cutlery. This post had to be dedicated to her as year after year on each #eid she wakes up early to cook these delicacies.
#EidMubarak everyone.
After a slightly unimpressed first two visits, i took the time out to satiate my burger cravings last evening at Between Breads #bandra. And this time it didn't disappoint by any margin whatsoever. Got served a perfect Double Patty Beef Cheeseburger. It's mouthful and ginormous. Too many hints of peppercorn seasoning in the patty but you will get over after a few initial bites.
They have a special menu running from 25th July until 3rd August in collaboration with Small Fry Co. and serving some one-offs like Stuffed portobello mushroom sliders, Lamb sliders & Chicken wrapped in bacon, Salted caramel milkshake and more.
Cheeseburger at Between Breads, 16th Road, Bandra West
Nowadays walking into a mall has become somewhat of a rarity for me and RCity at Ghatkopar is the last thing i would do on a nightmarishly crowded Sunday. For a change i did and went particularly for this joint - 5 Fat Monks, after my sister and sister-in-law's recommendation.
It's located at the back side of the mall on the ring of eateries that run along in a semi circle. Interiors are fresh in white and dominantly bright orange. The kitchen is open and was quite busy due to the fact it also does home deliveries around that vicinity.
FFM is built on the concept of Stir Fry Kitchen. You can pick and choose your proteins, sauces, veggies and build it around a rice or noodles meal-in-a-box. The concept is neat, but we stuck to their combinations instead of ours. Ordered the 'Prawn-Chicken-Lamb Holy Trinity', Smokey Yakitori Chicken and Silky Dim Sums. The Yakitori Chicken was served in no time. Just like the Japanese Street Yakitori, it was six bite sized chicken cubes on mini skewers. The chicken was flavoured well in soy and mirin combination with a dash of sesame on top. Though some people might find it a tad bit over-salted. Between this and the next one we spent a good 15 minutes waiting for the dish. #NotCool, seriously not cool. The Silky Dim Sums were little dry and not close to the slippery silky ones you can have at Yauatcha. The filling was generous, not too salty and overall it needs the help of the side garlic and chilli oil to really provide you that punch. Holy Trinity was next and filled upto the top of the box. Thumbs for the portion size and quality of ingredients. I would have preferred this in a more drippy saucy avatar, but nevertheless it was a good VFM dish.
Do ask them for a cup of green tea at the end as they say it's #ontheHouse. The tea might just help you cut all that goodies you just stuffed into stomach. Flavours apart FFM comes out as a VFM eatery that does not burn holes in your monthly eating-out expense. I say so because all the three dishes were shared between three of us and we are decently gluttonous eaters !
Kurla is famous for a couple of things - Kalpana theatre for the sleazy bhojpuri movies, notorious car spares market and lastly a meander of miya bhai khana. Seek Kabab (not Kebab - coz kurla mein banta aisa ich bolte hai !) and Paratha is a quite a local hit and you have almost 4-5 great places that do this really well. These kind of eateries are not meant for the hygiene conscious folks at all.
I was introduced to this seek diner some 5-6 years back by a few friends who stayed in it's vicinity. They have a take away stall right at the footpath which shimmers under a white bulb and small branding. Full with heaps of mint leaves, sliced onions and round after round of smoking hot amazingly aromatic kababs arrive straight from their kitchen slash restaurant a few metres inside of that same lane. Usually the take away counter and the restaurant staff don't have a minute to spare but i got lucky last night to catch Mohd. Rafiq Qureshi at the counter as i discussed with him his daily routine at the restaurant and how it came into existence. Probably i'll reserve that lengthy conversation for some other post.
At this time of Ramadan, people are off to the Mohd Ali Roads of town in search of malpuhas, niharis and baida rotis. That makes Nawab's very much inviting and less crowded. What it does is - makes you sit on the bench, break the fried paratha- squeeze a piece of that tender grilled meat in between it- soak it in the runny chutney and live that moment. It's absolute guilty pleasures deal and one shouldn't mind it at all.
It's open till 4 am for now. So no matter how late you are from work do stop under the Kurla east west bridge, find Nawab's on the LBS marg and eat your heart out for 45 bucks a plate !!
*The protein used by them is what we bade ka gosht a.k.a beef.
Your guide to finding the best of Ramzan snacks in and around Bandra.
Continuing from where we left in Part 1 of this trail - I came back after a week to the same area to repeat a few and discover new eateries in this maze of a locality. Hajji Tikka was the first stop. Hajji, undoubtedly is the cleanest and most organized of these places since it's a restaurant and not a round the corner pop up joint. This street is dominated by the Bohri Muslims as the mosque is just a few meters away. We sampled Chicken Tikka which was juicy, small and over charred, Boti Kebab (beef) was rustic and finally a succulent portion of Chicken Seekh. I was tempted for more items off the menu but had to hold my horses as we had another 5-6 places still to go.
Next we move to Bar-B-Que corner which was just 5 steps away from Hajji. Seems popular among the upper middle class formal clad folks. Serves almost all kebabs, tikkas & bhunas from a variety of meat. The Chicken Tikka was much better (tender) than the one at Hajji. The Khiri was neat too. All one needs is a couple of Naans and dip it into the runny green chutney and enjoy it. Hygiene wale folks will surely avoid the chutney as they are ones who's thought process is "pata nahi kaunsa pani use kiya hai chutney mein' ? So dip it or leave it, it's just upto you. I was doing fine the next day so i guess i'll give it a thumbs up.
Next stop was a even more sketchy lane called as Handi Wali Masjid, where there are a couple of shops that just do Biryanis. There are 3 consecutive shops that serve these huge degs (vessels) of aromatic delhi style biryani. We stopped at 'Hotel Salman' where I had a look into each one of them and found it was more Kepsa resembling rice than Biryani. It's made up of long grain rice cooked in it's own meat stock with just a subtle touch of spices. At 30 bucks a portion, it is stunning and just plain understated in that area. People who are familiar with Zarda can enjoy that this delicacy too at this place.
Further coming out to the main Mohd Ali Road, we wanted to sample the famous Valibhai Payawala but sadly all the sukha, nihari, paya, khamiri roti etc was only gonna be served past 11 pm. We were early by an hour. So Nihari was relished at Noor Mohammedi which is more famous for it's MF Hussain painting and our very own 'Chicken Sanju Baba'. Then on, Burhanpuri Mawa Jalebi, Malpuha & Firni from Tawaakal and Suleman Mithaiwala was repeated.
There are a few more places that you can try in the nearby vicinity if you're in the mood to walk. Chand Harissa at YMCA basketball court, Mastani Talao serves it's famous Hyderabadi Khichda and Sarvi, opp Nagpada Police Station serves some even more lip smacking Seekh Kebabs.
So now that the information is all laid out on your screen, go create your own trails. It really does't matter where you start and where you end. Just remember you want to sample the dishes and not feast, else you will end up with a overflowing stomach right at the second joint.
